Shine Bright Like A Diamond

Chapter Forty Two 

Minzy wouldn’t stop crying. She wasn’t sure what she was feeling at the moment, but seeing Daesung standing there with Princess IU, getting mated, the image was forever burned into her retinas. So she cried, trying to figure out what she was really feeling, and Danny wasn’t sure what he could do or say to help her. He would feel sorry for her, truly he would, but he knew that pain well, and feeling sorry wasn’t going to change it. But seeing that she was in pain, the same way that he was, made him strangely enough feel a bit better. Her tears and her sorrow were like an elation of happiness for him.

Danny mentally chuckled, he was sick.

Instead of saying anything that would more than likely only piss Minzy off, he walked close to her and drew her in for a hug. Minzy stiffened in his arms, and looked up, confused. He decided that he wanted to wipe that look away. Danny leaned in, his lips immediately claiming hers. Minzy gasped, trying to take a step back. His hands on her shoulders simply tightened, fingers brushing down her arm and gripping her, urging her closer. His body brushed against hers and panic coursed through her.

Minzy tightly closed her eyes, but she couldn’t bring herself to kiss back. Pretending to relax, she took the moment that his grip on her loosened, to slap him and run away. Danny glared at the floor, holding his stinging cheek, but the smile on his face only grew. She’d be back; he just knew that she would. She was probably only feeling shame right now, and a bit heartbroken, but soon her vulnerability and loneliness would get to her and she’d be his.

Every female had her price.

Jolting from his own bitter thought, Danny finally noted how cynical he had become in himself. How he didn’t care, or could care less about anyone, or much less being in love. Maybe that is why he didn’t wish other happiness. Maybe that was why he didn’t want Ji Yong to get mated to that reaper. A vampire, and a reaper, it was unheard of! But it wasn’t impossible. Frowning at the thought, he decided to rejoin the festivities, only to notice that everyone was already making their way out of the palace.

Was it already time for the blood exchanging ceremony to take part? He knew that sharing blood between vampires was something that they were going to do for the rest of their lives. For one reason or the other, the first time the couple- well, hopefully the first time—shared blood, it would be witnessed by everyone. It was suppose to charge them in a way that only vampire lovers could be. It would sync them together, and gave them a better understand, an odd connection. Not that Danny knew exactly what that connection was, couples kept it to themselves. And if it was written, it made no sense.

Just as he was about to walk out the door, he was stopped by a girl he’d seen around Daesung before, but wasn’t quite sure who she was. “Excuse me,” she mumbled, looking away shyly, “Whe-where’s the restroom?” she asked, squirming.

Danny raised an eyebrow, “Down that way, the first door on the left,” he signaled to a hallway that was set before the living room. It was made clear that Guests were allowed in there, especially those who had no permission being upstairs. He was a bit confused why she was even asking.

“Um…it’s full. I really have to go.” She looked at him pleadingly now.

Danny shrugged, “Can’t help you there,” he said continuing on. “Knock the door or something.” The girl glared at his back as he went.

The atmosphere outside was a lot better than it was inside. The cool air helped him feel less oppressed from his thoughts. The soft candlelight that lighted the outside, making a path, was such a soothing sight. He followed the small flickering fire, all the way to where the guests were all silently muttering amongst themselves, bussing in silent thrill. The tension here was thick, and very hyperaware. Danny had been to many of these ceremony’s, to know that everyone here was feeling a mixture of excitement, and happiness.

Danny often wondered how the couples felt—the ones that were just mated. Their happiness and excitement must be peaked at this moment. They might be the whole infectious ball of that radiating sappiness. But he felt like he himself was never going to be able to feel such a thing.

Daesung’s face was glowing, and so was Ji Eun’s. Danny watched with rapt attention as the couple moved around each other. How they showed each other their fangs. How they finally moved close enough to bite into each other’s flesh. He was so focused on what was going on, that he was shocked when he heard a loud scream. Turning his head, he narrowed his eyes towards the darkness. Vampires were known for seeing well in the dark, but all he could see was two half couples running towards them.

It wasn’t unheard of, for some couples to sneak off and try to re-live their own mating. But usually it went by silently. “What’s going on?” he asked the first couple that made it.

“There’s something over there,” the female said. “We thought we were alone,” she panted hard, trying to calm her fast beating hard. Even just trying to speak was hard seeing as to how terrified she was.

Ji Yong and Seung Hyun looked at each other, and then moved closer to where Seungri and Young Bae were. There Ji Yong quickly informed them what might be going on. They had not wanted to make obvious that something was happening, but it was too late now to be discreet. Also, if things got out of hand, they were going to need people that were informed as to what was going on.

The king was already aware of what was going on. Hong Jun and Knight Sean had already moved, first confirming that their team of knights were all on their side. This time they weren’t going to let themselves be fooled. From the shadows though, hissing was clearly heard, and then bigger than the average person, turned vampires jumped out.

Turned vampires had one desire, and that was to drink blood. They were like leeches, and for one reason or another could tell what was alive with warm blood, and what was dead with cold blood. They preferred the warm one. It was probably the fact that their inside were usually getting ice cold inside of them that made them seek out the warmth of other’s blood. Yet these looked like they had some sort of flesh eating disease carving into their faces, bulging eyes, and long razor sharp fangs that they couldn’t even close their mouths from how their sheer size.

Daesung at the moment, more than anyone was feeling the famous male possessiveness for his new mate. Ji Yong was about to walk forward and do something when he felt a hand on his, stopping him from walking any closer. The pink and blue haired vampire knew he had already made a promise to Seung Hyun that he wouldn’t leave his side, and he felt compelled to keep it, even though another part of him wanted to destroy those that had just invaded his territory.

Knight Sean and the other knights followed behind the turned vampires. They hadn’t wanted to interrupt, but they were going to have to if they wanted to take the ugly bastards out. “These are all we found!” Sean called, his eyes connecting with Ji Yong’s. The vampire heir nodded his head, and glanced over to his father whom was looking pissed.

“Where did you find them?” the king asked.

“Around the palace,” Sean said, “Nothing more.”

Suddenly one of the turned vampires let out a screech, and lounged itself towards the guests. Hong Jun was quick to move, and pinned down the engorged creature, slamming it face first into the ground. Everyone watched as Hong Jun’s eyes softly glowed, and the dirt around the head of the turned wrapped around it, suffocating it to death.

“We are going to take care of this mess,” Hong Jun hissed, already unhappy with the fact that they had not solved this mystery yet. His fingers dug into the nape of the creature, digging deep enough to rip out his esophagus. That was just to make sure that he was dead as he pulled the creature up from the ground and turned to Sean.

The man nodded, and signaled the other knights to make sure that they had a tight hold on the turned. They didn’t need any more killed in front of the newly mated couple and their guests. Turning, they made their way out, towards the entrance of the kingdom and out.

They tried to do this as quickly as possible, but everyone was tense now.

“What a bore!” Danny yawned, “I’m leaving now,” he said as he was one of the first to leave to the castle. No one paid him much mind as he left.

“You two should go inside, now,” Ji Yong told his brothers. He turned to Seung Hyun, and the reaper nodded, walking with him to follow Hong Jun and Sean. Daesung simply nodded his head, and placed his arm around Ji Eun whom looked at him with shinning eyes. Daesung felt happiness shoot right through him. He was glad that Ji Eun was his mate, he knew at this moment here and now that he had not made a mistake with her.

Their parents came up to them, and decided to them first in for the night.

The guest slowly followed, all of them talking about how they were shocked with what had happened. How it was the most exciting thing that had happened to them.

Young Bae and Seungri stayed behind for a while, watching as Ji Yong and Seung Hyun went along. “Man, I wonder how all those turned came in,” Seungri shivered, and moved closer to Young Bae. Young Bae glanced down at his mate, taking in his tired face, and their fast asleep son. He needed to get them back into the castle, and into bed. His two loves were tired.

“Come on love, let’s go inside.”

“But,” Seungri gave him a worried glance.

“Seung Hyun will protect Ji Yong,” Young Bae assured. Seungri glanced back just once more, but when he let out a yawn, he knew he needed rest. With that he allowed Young Bae to lead him back towards their bedroom, bringing Tae Hyun closer to him, softly smiling at the soft scent of his baby boy. It made him nearly get teary. Tae Hyun was growing up so fast. Having a new one might not be so bad, but no matter what, Tae Hyun would forever and ever, be his little baby boy.

“Young Bae, I don’ want him to grow up,” Seungri whispered.

Young Bae smiled softly at him, “Oh love,” There was no way that they were ever going to stop their son from growing. But for tonight, he won’t tell him that, he’ll just let him be.

He did glance back once though, watching Seung Hyun lift his arm around Ji Yong’s shoulder to pull him closer.  He wasn’t sure why Ji Yong even wanted to go and see about the turned vampires, but Young Bae figured that it was because his brother was taking his heir duties very seriously. He had no doubt that it was what their father also expected of his heir.

Yet that was not what worried him at all.

No, what worried him was how those vampires had gotten into the dark castle.

On the other side, Ji Yong watched as several guards helped to bring the bodies down, just outside their door. There were twenty of them that he could count, but he couldn’t be sure. Once the guard and knights had all moved out of the way, Ji Yong snapped his fingers and set the pile of rotting flesh to fire.

The sudden jolt of flames startled everyone and they turned to face the Vampire heir and Prince Top. “What’s going on here?” Ji Yong asked. .”Have you guys found any information of what has happened?” he asked. All of them bowed, but Hong Jun and Sean stepped forward, ready to try and answer anything that they could.

“We still don’t know, the ones that we found seemed to have been asleep, and thrown around, and set to wake up. It’s like someone might be controlling them,” Sean immediately said, “Sadly enough, we don’t know who that might be,” he added. Ji Yong sighed, running a hand through his hair. This was becoming an even bigger problem than anticipated.

“Are you sure those are all the bodies?”

Both men nodded. “We are sure. We searched within and outside of the castle,” Sean proudly said.

Ji Yong still couldn’t help but to think that it was just too simple. Each turned had been found, and there was no huge fight. Something was still going on. Why would the person plant turned vampires around the kingdom…if, unless, their plan was distraction. If that person was able to place these bodies within the castle walls, that person was already inside. How...and how come no one noticed!

“Who are the guest that arrived today?” Ji Yong sharply turned to the guards, “Who has the list!” The lead guard stepped forward, and handed the list of names to Ji Yong. The pink and blue haired vampire took it, quickly scanning through it.

Seung Hyun watched as Ji Yong looked at every name and then turned his eyes back to the castle. The idea that there could be someone in the castle had entered his mind a few times. That was why he himself had scouted the area, but other than that found nothing. Was it because back then there had been nothing? Things could have changed.

“All of them are the guest that I saw today. Are you all sure that this list has the names of every person that came in?” Ji Yong asked.

“Yes, we’re sure,” The main guard said, bowing deeply. He didn’t want the prince angry at his guards when he was sure that he had checked everyone. Ji Yong pursed his lips and handed the list back.

“Knight Sean, I want an interrogation done on the guards,” Ji Yong commanded, “Sorry, but it’s mandatory gentlemen,” Ji Yong said. The only thing he could think was that if the person had not been recognized to enter, then he might be hiding within the guards. They simply couldn’t take any chances at this point.

“We understand,” The guards all nodded. Knight Sean was a bit surprised by the order, but decided to go along with it. Someone had already acted like a knight of the dark castle, they couldn't allow themselves to be made a fool of again. With that, the knights rounded up the guards and then left. Knight Sean bid the prince a goodnight as he left with the others. Hong Jun turned to Ji Yong.

“You should go rest; I will take a few knights with me and round the castle again, just to be safe.”

Ji Yong nodded his head, and turned to Seung Hyun. The reaper blinked, and followed Ji Yong back towards the castle. Hong Jun watched them go for a second before turning to the knights that had stayed behind. “Let’s move out!” Ji Yong tilted his head as he watched the group of vampires move to do their jobs, and let out a deep sigh.

 “You almost seem upset,” Seung Hyun murmured.

“It feels like I should be the one doing everything,” Ji Yong admitted, “I have to protect my family Hyun, it all falls on me.”

Seung Hyun walked a bit ahead, and rounded on Ji Yong. “You don’t have to do it all yourself. Your brothers are more than willing to help you. They are strong as well, and also, you have me. I’m always here to help you,”

Ji Yong smiled, “I know, it’s just who I am,” he whispered, looking down to the ground. Ji Yong had worked hard to deserve the title of Heir. It was in his jeans to be the next great ruler and make sure that everyone was safe, but when it came to the safety of his family, he couldn’t help but want to protect them all himself. That was why he sometimes distanced himself from them. If he could be on the outside protecting them, but it was lonely being there. He’d rather be with them, than just be detached.

Seung Hyun had reminded him of that.

He couldn’t be a ruler by hurting himself. He had to be well rounded. This is what he had been missing from the very beginning. “Come on love, don’t think too much. You’ll hurt yourself,” Seung Hyun softly joked, pulling the vampire along. Ji Yong chuckled, and shook his head.

“Are you going to be up tonight?” Ji Yong asked as they entered the castle. The maids hurried to close the doors again, and stand by them as they usually did during the night. Seung Hyun gave Ji Yong a guilty look.

“Do you feel when I leave?” Seung Hyun asked.

Ji Yong nodded his head, tightening his hand around Seung Hyun’s. “I woke up the first time that you left, and freaked out. But when you came back, I was to scared to ask where you had gone.” Ji Yong looked down, slightly embarrassed at his admission.

Seung Hyun nodded, “I’m guessing you also figured out that it’s part of my job. It doesn’t happen all the time at night,”

“I know,” Ji Yong whispered.

“I’m sorry it has to be complicated,” Seung Hyun pulled Ji Yong to himself, placing his arm around him and pecking his cheek with a soft kiss.

“You staying so close has helped me grow past my fears. I understand that you have a job that its hard for me to understand,” Ji Yong smiled.

“You just have to ask,” Seung Hyun said. “Ji, this is the best I’ll ever get to explain what I do. I meet people. I get to know them, get to see their lives, and then I give them the final decision that they will ever make. Death is funny,” Seung Hyun said, turning to look at Ji Yong with slight mischief shinning in his eyes, “Like when you do something, all your actions have consequences, and it’s like a domino effect, you set things into motion and once you have, you can’t stop them and when you least know it- you’re done,”

Ji Yong opened and closed his mouth, before nodding his head. He didn’t want to say it aloud, but Seung Hyun’s job gave him the creeps. “You look so happy about it,” he said instead. Seung Hyun chuckled. He then moved his head at an angle that he could better access Ji Yong’s neck in, and started to place light kisses on his neck. Ji Yong giggled, holding Seung Hyun’s head, trying to keep it still in one place. “Hyunie! That tickles,”

“Does it?” Seung Hyun raised an eyebrow.

Ji Yong grinned really big, before shyly looking away. When both of them reached their room, Seung Hyun walked inside first, his eyes scanning the dark area, before turning on the lights. Once inside, and the doors look, and one quick search of the room, both relaxed.

Ji Yong and Seung Hyun shared a bath together. When they were done, they dressed in comfortable clothing, cotton shirt, and sweat pants. Once they were done, they jumped into bed, ready to snuggle with each other. “Well, if you do go out today, make sure to stay safe.” Ji Yong murmured, tightening his fingers around Seung Hyun’s shirt. He didn’t want Seung Hyun to leave, but he had to prove that he wasn’t a wimp. That he could handle Seung Hyun leaving and coming as he needed. He didn’t want to be afraid.

“I’ll stay safe, and I won’t be gone for long,” he promised. He wouldn’t say it, but he could sense Ji Yong’s fear. Besides that, he couldn’t leave him alone for more than an hour or two anyways. Reaching for his vampire, Seung Hyun pulled him in even closer.

Ji Yong snuggled as close as he could, closing his eyes as he felt nothing but soothing pleasure coming from Seung Hyun. It was already late into the night, or should he now call it morning. The blood sharing ceremony had been at twelve in the morning. It was now two. By the time that Ji Yong was deeply asleep, it was already three in the morning and Seung Hyun slowly stood, making sure not to disturbed the vampire as he walked to the window.

Seung Hyun didn’t have to open it to get outside. All he had to do was close his eyes, and he found himself on the other side. Looking back once just to make sure Ji Yong was still asleep; he briskly walked off into the shadows. A list appeared in his hand as he went. There were a lot of people dying all over the world, and yet he only had one region that was all up to him to keep in check, and in balance.

Stopping where the strongest of the moonlight was shinning, Seung Hyun opened the scroll in his hands. He didn’t know what he was going to do. The names that were written on it made his blood run cold.

Park Jae Suk

Kwon Ji Yong

It couldn’t be. Seung Hyun thought, his fingers shaking uncontrollably. He had to be reading wrong…What was the meaning of this!